Bush Veto a Blow to “Wounded Warriors”
By Maya Schenwar and Matt Renner, t r u t h o u t
The Bush administration’s veto of a broad-ranging defense policy bill Monday night will delay a long list of benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
Bush did not veto the Defense Authorization Bill of 2008 outright, according to White House spokesman Scott Stanzel. Instead, he used a maneuver called a “pocket veto.” Essentially, a pocket veto is a way to kill a piece of legislation while Congress is adjourned. In allowing a bill to expire by refusing to sign or veto it, a president can effectively force Congress to restart its legislative work from the beginning.
House and Senate leaders contend that this attempted pocket veto is illegitimate and that they will act as if Bush had issued a standard veto. According to spokesmen for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader of the Senate Harry Reid, Congress was not out of session, because the Senate was in “Pro Forma” session and the House had left specific instructions for communications with the executive branch. They plan to hold a veto override vote when the House and Senate convene later this month. This disagreement is key because a pocket veto could delay the bill for much longer than a traditional veto. The bill had overwhelming bipartisan support, and a traditional veto could be overridden quickly.